Why "Training Data Optimization” Is the New SEO Frontier

I recently read a post from Leigh McKenzie (Director of Online Visibility at Semrush) that perfectly captured what’s quietly becoming the most underrated shift in SEO , the power of brand mentions.

Semrush expanded their optimization beyond semrush.com into Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, and even acquired properties like Backlinko and Search Engine Land.

Not for backlinks.

But for visibility inside LLMs.

Leigh summed it up perfectly:

“Many LLMs now crawl social platforms, forums, and community discussions for real time insights and user sentiment.

If you only optimize your domain, you’re missing where AI is actually learning about your brand.”

That’s where brand mentions come in.

Every mention across credible sources a Reddit thread, an editorial mention, a quote on a Q&A site, or a trusted directory now feeds into how AI models learn about your brand.

Think about it:

Google’s algorithms use links as signals of authority.

LLMs use mentions as signals of trust.

When AI platforms like ChatGPT or Gemini reference a brand, it’s not because of one perfect page it’s because the brand consistently appears in trusted conversations across the web.

It’s like PR, SEO, and data training all merging into one.

The more balanced and consistent your mentions, the stronger your brand becomes in both human and AI-driven discovery.

We’re entering the era of Brand Mention Optimization not just to rank higher, but to be remembered by AI itself.

Curious to hear your take:

Do you actively focus on brand mentions, or do you still primarily focus on backlinks?

Do you think SEO in 2025 will be more about optimizing content or optimizing data visibility across platforms?

I believe SEO is shifting toward brand mentions more than just backlinks. When your brand shows up across trusted discussions and platforms, it builds recognition not only with people but also with AI models. Backlinks help ranking, but mentions build credibility and trust. In 2025, SEO will be about how visible your brand data is across the web, not just how well your site ranks.

Absolutely agree — this is where SEO is quietly evolving.

We’re moving from link-building to signal-building — where every brand mention, community quote, and trusted citation shapes how AI systems perceive authority.

The next phase isn’t just ranking higher; it’s training the algorithms to remember your brand.

“Training data optimization is key Google’s AI now uses more structured data + clean inputs.

Mentions have been a thing since 2022. When appropriate implied backlinks are backlinks. Just like using anchor text in UGC is automatically flagged as spam since it’s not natural. Search engine engineers realized implied backlinks are backlinks many years ago now.

What’s natural is what matters.

Back in 2013 co-occurrence was a thing. Mention your keywords near the link and that’s implied anchor text.

Not a hard concept to understand.

Pro Linkerz said:

I believe SEO is shifting toward brand mentions more than just backlinks. When your brand shows up across trusted discussions and platforms, it builds recognition not only with people but also with AI models. Backlinks help ranking, but mentions build credibility and trust. In 2025, SEO will be about how visible your brand data is across the web, not just how well your site ranks.

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Absolutely agree that’s spot on. Mentions are quickly becoming the new layer of trust signals beyond links. It’s less about domain authority now and more about entity authority how often your brand is referenced in meaningful contexts across platforms. I’ve started focusing more on brand visibility strategies too, especially in communities and data sources LLMs tap into.

Kumareszh said:

I believe SEO is shifting toward brand mentions more than just backlinks. When your brand shows up across trusted discussions and platforms, it builds recognition not only with people but also with AI models. Backlinks help ranking, but mentions build credibility and trust. In 2025, SEO will be about how visible your brand data is across the web, not just how well your site ranks.

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Well said backlinks build rank, but mentions build recognition. That’s where SEO is truly heading in 2025.

This is going to be harder than SEO and will be a lot less effective, especially for smaller properties and brands. But if you become good at it early enough, there are a lot of profits to be made and a lot of services to be sold. Of course, there will be a ton of providers offering services that don't actually work as well.

True ,it’s definitely going to be tougher to execute and measure compared to traditional SEO. But early movers usually gain the biggest advantage, especially as AI systems start weighing brand visibility more heavily. It’s like SEO in its early days challenging, but full of opportunity for those who figure it out first.

Builder Dave said:

This is going to be harder than SEO and will be a lot less effective, especially for smaller properties and brands. But if you become good at it early enough, there are a lot of profits to be made and a lot of services to be sold. Of course, there will be a ton of providers offering services that don't actually work as well.

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That’s a great point. Brand mentions are becoming just as valuable as backlinks, especially with LLMs pulling data from multiple platforms. Focusing on consistent mentions across Reddit, Quora, and trusted sites helps build both human and AI level visibility. It feels like SEO is shifting from link building to overall data presence and brand trust signals.

brand mentions now carry more weight than backlinks in AI age. G bots still care about links, but LLMs read sentiment and presence. u build digital memory, not just rank juice. I’d split focus backlinks for crawl, mentions for mindshare. both feed different beasts.

RankFoundry said:

That’s a great point. Brand mentions are becoming just as valuable as backlinks, especially with LLMs pulling data from multiple platforms. Focusing on consistent mentions across Reddit, Quora, and trusted sites helps build both human and AI level visibility. It feels like SEO is shifting from link building to overall data presence and brand trust signals.

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Absolutely, I completely agree! Out of curiosity, have you experimented with tracking brand mentions for AI visibility, or is this something you’re planning to integrate into your strategy this year?